Acknowledging the Ways in Which Children Learn and Develop
In creating effective education, we can start by taking note of how children learn. There are certain fundamentals in the way a child learns that most of us have observed—whether as teachers, as parents, or from being children ourselves. These are pretty basic and simple observations; they almost go without saying:
a) Children are natural learners: Children are learning at every waking moment. It’s a natural activity for them, not something separated out from play, or from life, and called “learning.” Because children are quite open to the world, they approach it inquisitively. They carefully observe and want to know all about what they are seeing. The challenge is how to create a learning environment that supports this natural tendency to learn, not suppresses it. We can do this by training teachers to be facilitators and guides who follow the interests of the child, listen to them and expand their interests. If the child’s tendency to be a learner, to absorb knowledge from experiences through his or her own interests, is supported, encouraged, and facilitated, the natural outcome will be an adult who enjoyed learning throughout his schooling and therefore continues to enjoy learning throughout life. His early inclination becomes his lifelong habit.
b) Children learn in an integrated way: Just as a child learns naturally, he or she naturally learns in an integrated way. Rather than separating out the learning into subjects or categories, the child comes to it whole and explores all its aspects. Integrated learning means not only that the academic subjects or topics are taken whole, but also the learner’s feelings and social relations are part of the learning process. To create a school environment that supports integrated learning, we can present subjects in ways that integrate with other areas and that make use of our life experiences, and we can aim for the integrated personal, social and academic development of the child. The natural result of a learning environment that supports integrated learning will be an adult who is comfortable with systems thinking, problem solving and deep learning.
c) Each child learns in his or her own, individual way: Teachers have always known this: each learner is different and approaches learning differently. Educators today realize that differentiated learning and multi-level class activities are necessary in making a learning environment that accommodates different learning styles. When this effort is successful, the learning outcome is heightened creativity and initiative, as well as greater retention of knowledge because it makes sense to the individual.
d) Relationship is the foundation for development: When an open and friendly relationship is there between teacher and child, anything can be achieved. The child relaxes and indicates what he’s interested in and how he’s prepared to learn. The teacher can then follow that indication and help to provide him with the resources to meet his need. A teacher can help the learner’s personal development, give him more confidence, help his social development and adjusting with others, and also can help his academic development, because once there is that relationship, the child is interested in what the teacher has to say. The teacher then is not merely transferring knowledge, but helping the child to awaken and develop his or her own capacities. Within the relationship with a child, there are many opportunities to influence a child’s development. The compassion a teacher shows at a particular point has an impact. When a child is upset, hurt, defeated or disturbed, that is an opportunity to listen, give support and be there for the child, which becomes a model for how they will deal with others in the same situation. If they are then able to resolve conflicts as adults, it’s because they experienced that while growing up and it made an impression.
